Democrats received the message loud and clear from the midterm elections that Americans want results, not “shallow litmus tests,” as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro put it at a conference in Denver this week. But it was evident that Democrats, who gathered at a summit on the way forward as they take control of the House and Senate next year, are still working out just how to achieve those results while President Trump is still in the White House.
Shapiro helped Democrats flip four House seats in his state, and he spoke after an election that delivered decisive majorities to Democrats in the Senate and the House. He said voters had rejected “chaos” and “corruption” and are demanding results-focused governance. Shapiro urged congressional Democrats to focus on lowering costs, building affordable housing, protecting consumers and expanding economic opportunity — and not on ideological fights.
The Pennsylvania governor, who has been mentioned as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, focused on national issues, arguing the “beginning of the mandate” from voters called for aggressive action on competition, AI, innovation and economic fairness. He advised Democrats to use their majorities to deliver a stronger “American bargain” for working families.
While some newly elected Democrats, like Sen.-elect James Talarico of Texas, have some optimism about the new Congress’ ability to work with the Trump administration, others, including New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, encouraged new members of Congress to be pragmatic in approaching dealmaking with Mr. Trump.
In his remarks Thursday, Talarico, who won his seat in a heavily Republican state, said that Democrats “must” work with President Trump because “the American people cannot wait two years for change.”
“We should make the final two years of his presidency the most productive of any presidency in American history,” Talarico said.
But Sherrill suggested that may be harder than it sounds.
“The art of the deal to Trump is, he figures out what you want. He leverages the you-know-what out of you and keeps taking, taking, taking and never delivers. He does not follow through on his commitments,” Sherrill said of her experience in working with him as New Jersey’s governor.
She told Democrats to take advantage of the power they amassed this election cycle and use it to their advantage.
“My advice to Senator Talarico is, if Trump wants to work with us, we will lay out the agenda and he can sign it,” Sherrill said.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who won the governorship in 2025, the same year as Sherrill, agreed that trying to make deals with Mr. Trump may be futile.
“It is foolish to think if you ever make a deal, if you ever give anything, you give an inch to the president, there is no reason to believe—he has no track record of ever following through—that if you make a deal with President Trump, he will ever actually abide by it,” Spanberger said.
Spanberger, who represented Virginia in the House before she was elected governor, offered this advice to next year’s Democratic Congress: “Congress should pass bill after bill after bill that is broadly, very clearly popular, and is responsive to what folks across the country campaigned on, and send it to the president’s desk. No pre-negotiations, no discussions. Eventually he’ll want to do a signing ceremony. And eventually, he might sign a couple of them. And if not, then in 2028, folks say, look at these bills that passed through the House, passed through the Senate. The president didn’t take action.”
Despite the celebratory mood in Denver, Democratic officials repeatedly sent the message that they understand that last week’s victories do not represent a long-term realignment, and there’s no guarantee that the voters who supported them will continue to do so.
“This isn’t a blank check,” Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona said. “If anything, it is a short-term loan that we need to keep paying — or we will lose it.”
